A Muggle at Hogwarts
by Litta
Summary: Why is the Dark Lord after a plain muggle girl, and what will happen if he catches her? Takes place over Year 5 at Hogwarts, taking the place of Order of the Phoenix. Please read and review.
1. A Strange Dream?

Something hit my arm, pulling me from my wonderful dream about my favorite movie and being part of the cast. I groaned at being awakened and squinted at my clock. It was just past midnight, so I turned over to go back to sleep.

"Get up!" an unfamiliar voice yelled at me. I bolted upright, now aware of someone else in my room.

"Who's there?" I asked. I heard my drawers being opened, and looked past the person in front of me to see another person throwing my clothes into a suitcase.

"Never mind that, get up!" I was preparing to scream for help when a hand clamped down over my mouth. "Ready Fred?"

"Ready George." Before the two strangers could do whatever they were ready to do, another shadow suddenly appeared in my room.

"NOW!" Fred and George shouted simultaneously.

A strange green light shot past me just before the room disappeared from around the three of us. All at once everything went black, and my body felt like it was being squeezed to death. I couldn't breathe, though I tried to take deep breaths. Just when I thought I would suffocate from my body becoming paper thin, we appeared in another room, and air rushed at me from all sides. I took several deep breaths, all the while preparing to scream.

"Good, you've returned," a new voice said. I looked around the dim room, barely big enough to fit three of us, let alone a new stranger. "How did it go?"

"We got her just like you asked," the one holding me said, though I was sitting on the ground.

"But _He_ showed up just as we left," the one with the suitcase said, completing the other's thought.

"Thank you. Leave her with me and wait outside. You can eat breakfast with the rest of your family in just a moment. Your mother's been worried sick about you, so I won't keep you waiting long." The two left, and sunlight illuminated the room for a second when the door opened.

I now knew I was in some kind of tool shed, and it appeared to be morning rather than the middle of the night. Pots and tools of various sizes littered the floor and dilapidated shelves, leaving little floor space to stand. My brain struggled to comprehend what had happened, but the stranger in the shed with me interrupted my thoughts.

"I'm sure you're wondering what's going on," he said, his voice betraying his age. "I'm afraid I can't answer all your questions, but I will tell you this: you've been brought here for protection. These people will help you while I look for more answers. Now if you'll follow the two young men outside, they'll introduce you to everyone."

The old man took my hand and gently pulled me to my feet. He opened the door and gave me a gentle nudge outside. The sunlight blinded me momentarily, and when I opened my eyes again the old man was gone. I stood alone with Fred and George on a dirt pathway that led to an unstable, yet interesting, looking house. I also realized Fred and George were twins, and I could only tell them apart because Fred was still holding the suitcase with my clothes.

"Come on then," George said.

I followed them to the house and was grateful when I got indoors again and out of the sun. Inside, sitting around a table with breakfast food, sat six people. The twins introduced everyone: Ron, their brother; Harry, Ron's friend; Hermione, also Ron's friend; Ginny, their sister; and their parents, Arthur and Molly. Each person in turn greeted me. Their mom got up and insisted I sit down and eat some breakfast with them. As I was squeezed between Harry and Hermione, I realized what I must look like.

My blonde hair would be falling every which way off my head since I'd been sleeping on it, my blue eyes were probably blood shot by now thanks to being pulled from a deep sleep, my dad's old t-shirt was fraying at the seams, and my sweat pants had a hole in the right knee.

Molly put a plate of eggs and burnt toast in front of me and then started interrogating Fred and George. Their conversation was hard to follow and they used many words I'd never heard before. I poked at my eggs and ate a few bites to be polite. Having eaten a late supper before bed, I wasn't all that hungry.

"Where are you from?" Hermione asked me, forcing me to look up from my plate. I told her the name of the city I lived in, unsure of where I was now. She didn't recognize the name, so I tried my state. She still didn't know, so I finally said my country.

"The United States."

"Oh, that explains your accent." It was my turn to look at her funny, because to me everyone else had accents. "You're in England now."

"England?" I whispered. I'd always wanted to go to Europe, but to travel there in the middle of the night by what I can only describe as magic wasn't how I'd imagined it. I giggled at the insanity of everything, an unfortunate tendency of mine when extremely tired.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked me. I nodded, trying to stifle my giggles.

"You must be exhausted," Hermione said as if suddenly realizing something. "America's seven hours behind us," she told Harry. "It's still the middle of the night to her."

"Oh my dear, you should have said something," Molly told me. She pulled me out of the chair and led me upstairs. She opened a door and pushed me inside. "You go back to sleep and just come down when you're ready." I only saw the bed and headed straight for it. I curled under the covers and fell asleep.


	2. Not A Dream

I woke up and stretched my arms as far above my head as they would go. I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes, and expected to look around my bedroom, hoping the strange things I remembered had just been a dream. But then I noticed the bed I was on was too soft to be mine, and the room smelled like rain, not dust. I looked around the room, taking in the small size, the small wooden end table next to me, the closet with no doors in the corner, and the wooden walls. My walls were covered with pink rose wall paper, and though I never thought I would, I missed those pink roses right then.

I stood up and saw a suitcase at the foot of the bed. I recognized it as the one filled with my clothes from the night before. I opened it and pulled out a pair of jeans and a clean t-shirt. I changed quickly, not wanting someone to check on me and catch me without clothes on. I tried to do something with my hair, but gave up when it refused to stay flat. Then I slowly opened the door and peeked around. Not seeing anyone in the hallway, I crept down the stairs and snuck a look at the living room. Everyone sat in various chairs quietly discussing me.

"Dumbledore said he put some kind of spell around the house so we'd be safe from You Know Who," Arthur said. "Otherwise he'd have never brought her here."

"But why is she here at all?" Harry asked. "She's a Muggle."

"All Dumbledore said was that she's important and You Know Who's after her."

"Is she going to come to Hogwarts with us?" Hermione asked.

"That's what Dumbledore said," Molly told her. "It's a lot safer for her there than at our little house."

"What about her family? Won't they wonder where she is?" No one spoke for a minute, causing me to worry.

"When Dumbledore came back, he said You Know Who had killed them all. She doesn't have any family anymore," Molly said.

I must have gasped audibly, for everyone suddenly turned and looked at me. I stood frozen, wanting to run up the hallway away from everyone but unable to do so. Molly ran over to me and pulled me into a fierce hug.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that, dearie." The minute she touched me I broke down crying. She led me back to my room and let me cry in privacy, without the others looking on. When I calmed down much later, she left to go heat up some leftovers from lunch for me. After a while, Hermione and Ginny came in.

"How are you doing?" Hermione asked.

"Okay," I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

"We brought you food," Ginny said, handing me a plate with some kind of sandwich on it. I began eating right away. They stood awkwardly, waiting for me to finish. I set the empty plate down and waited for one of them to speak.

"I know this must be confusing for you," Hermione said to me. I wanted to tell her that she had no idea how confused I was, but I said nothing. "Is there anything we can do?" I thought about all the questions I had and didn't know which to ask first. As I thought, Ron and Harry joined us in the room.

"I thought I told you to leave us alone," Hermione whispered to Ron.

"It's okay," I told her.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.

"I was thinking of explaining the wizarding world to her," Hermione said.

"That's a good idea. I remember how confused I was when I first found out about everything."

"Why don't you explain it then, since you probably know how she's feeling?" Everyone looked at Harry, so I did too. Somehow I knew I was missing something important.

"Well, first off, all of us are witches and wizards." He waited for me to react, but I didn't, so he continued. He explained all about his school where they learned about spells and magic and lots of other stuff I only sort of understood. "That's about it. Any questions?"

Of course I wanted to ask lots of questions. He'd just told me that all my wild fantasies about magic were true and that some of my worst nightmares were also true. They all looked at me, waiting for me to speak. I cleared my head and thought for a minute. I couldn't ask the first question I wanted because I knew no one could answer it, so I settled for my second.

"How can I go to school with you if I'm not a witch?"

"I'm sure Dumbledore's already figured out a way for you to come with us," Hermione told me, "otherwise he never would have brought you here."

"Why did he bring me here, and not straight to Hogwarts, where it's safer?" They all just shrugged their shoulders.

"We'll only be here a few days before we leave to get school supplies," Ron said.

They told me all about Diagon Alley, the shops there, the supplies they'd buy, and then went on to describe Hogwarts in full detail. I started to get excited about seeing these places, forgetting my grief from earlier. As they were explaining to me how Quidditch worked, Fred and George suddenly appeared in the room with a loud bang and smoke. I screamed and fell off the bed, knocking Harry off with me. Everyone started laughing, and I blushed in embarrassment.

"Sorry about them," Ginny told me. "They like to apparate all the time now, since they passed their test."

"Isn't that how you got here with them?" Ron asked.

"Yes it is," one answered for me.

"Fred, did you have to create such a loud explosion though," Ginny said. "You gave her a heart attack."

"Sorry," Fred said, though he was smiling like he wasn't entirely sorry.

"We brought you some candy," George said, offering me a small wrapped piece.

"Oh no, you aren't pulling any tricks on her," Hermione said, inspecting the piece before giving it to me. "Don't worry; it's not one of their fake candies."

I put the candy in my mouth and immediately smiled as I tasted butterscotch. The group continued talking, allowing me to just listen and remain silent. I laughed at stories of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and more embarrassing moments of Ron from Fred and George. Long after I'd finished my candy, Molly came in and announced dinner.

I sat between Harry and George this time, trying my best to ignore George's comments and focus on the questions Arthur asked me about "Muggle life", despite Molly's protests.

"But why doesn't the ink replenish itself?" he asked.

"It can't. Once the ink in the pen is used up, you throw it away," I said, just as confused as him but for different reasons.

"It seems such a waste to have to make all those pens, only to throw them away. One should at least be able to replace the ink."

"It's okay," Harry said to me. "When I first met him, he asked me what the purpose of a rubber duck is." I chuckled with him.

"What do you learn in 'high school'?" He still struggled remembering the Muggle names I was giving him to use.

"Well, I take English, math, science, and electives."

"Why would you need to take English when you already speak it?"

"Um, so I can get better at it. I get better at writing papers, expand my vocabulary, and read classic literature."

"And what about math?"

"I learn algebra, though this year I was supposed to learn geometry."

Arthur continued asking me about school, and I figured out it was because witches and wizards didn't learn the same things, let alone England's Muggle school system was different from America's. They probably had spells to do the math for them, and with spells, the limitations in the Muggle world didn't apply. As for science, the closest thing they had was a class called Potions. I figured I wouldn't be good at that since I wasn't too good in science. I'd struggled through biology and hated chemistry just as much. Molly finally stepped in and allowed me to eat my soup, which had turned cold. The family started talking about supplies and money, and Harry explained how wizard money was different.

"Will I need to buy supplies?" I asked him.

"I don't know. Actually, we'll have to know what year you are first. How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

"Oh, then you'll be a fifth year with us."

"Dumbledore already gave us a list of the supplies we have to get you dear," Molly said from across the table. She passed me a sheet of parchment and I read through the list. Harry helped me understand it all.

"You'll be in most of the same classes as us. We don't have to get you any magical supplies since you won't be able to use them. That'll save some money. But you'll have to get robes and the books, and all the supplies for Potions."

As Harry spoke, I heard Molly mutter something about not being able to afford proper supplies. Harry noticed my distraction and heard what I heard. Before Molly could say anything else, he spoke up.

"I'll pay for her supplies." Everyone stopped talking.

"Don't be silly dear; we'll pay for them of course. We couldn't ask you to spend your money on someone else's supplies."

"No, I want to pay for them. I have more than enough money." A few more arguments were made, but Harry won out in the end.

"Thanks," I said quietly, hating to cause anyone to spend money on me but unable to afford anything at the moment.

"Don't worry about it. I really do have plenty, and I can't think of a better way to spend my parent's money." I smiled and continued eating, glad that one of my problems was now taken care of.


	3. Meeting New People

The days at the Weasley household passed slowly, due to jetlag, but without the jet. It took me the rest of the time at the house to get into a new sleep pattern that kept me up during the day. They told me we were going to travel by floo powder, which they explained to me and showed me how to use. They also told me about Harry's disastrous first attempt, which didn't boost my confidence. Somehow I managed to speak clearly enough and made it through just fine.

We checked into The Leaky Cauldron, which I couldn't see until Fred and George pulled me inside. They told me Muggles couldn't see it at all, same with Hogwarts. I thought that was interesting, a good way to keep the magic world secret. Why they wanted to keep it all secret though I didn't understand. I shared a room with Hermione and Ginny that night. We stayed up for awhile talking about things, but then Hermione decided we had to go to sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night after a weird dream.

_Harry was walking down an alley. Suddenly a blonde boy came up behind him and began teasing him. After an insult to Harry's mother, Harry turned around and punched the boy in the face. The other boy punched him back. They continued fighting until an enormous man pulled them apart._

I went back to sleep after a few minutes. The next morning everyone went into Diagon Alley to shop for supplies. Hermione went with me to get fitted for robes, which took less time than I expected. The woman was pleasant, commenting on the rare occasions she measured older children for first time robes. Hermione helped me answer questions I had trouble with, like why I was buying robes for the first time.

"Her parents wanted to keep her in public school at first, but just this year decided to send her to Hogwarts instead, so she needs everything."

The lady smiled and continued chatting, oblivious to my discomfort at the mention of my parents. Everyone avoided the topic around me, which I was grateful for. When I finished trying on my robes, I followed Hermione down a side alley to meet up with the others. When we emerged onto another street, I saw Harry fighting with a blonde haired boy, though they were soon stopped by a huge man. The blonde boy ran off, and Hermione and I ran up to Harry.

"Harry, why were you fighting with Malfoy?" she asked.

"He insulted my mother."

"Harry, you should know better than to fight with him," the large man said. He sighed. "Are you alright?" Harry nodded.

"Thanks for stepping in Hagrid," Hermione told the large man.

"Who's your friend?" He seemed to notice me for the first time.

"Oh, this is Amanda Williams." Hagrid's eyes widened.

"Ah. Well it's nice to finally meet you."

He shook my hand, which disappeared inside his own monstrous hand, and then lumbered off to run more errands. We met up with the Weasley family and headed back to The Leaky Cauldron for some dinner. I managed to sit by Harry again as I wanted to ask him some questions.

"Harry, do you and Malfoy fight a lot?"

"Yeah. We've hated each other since my first day at Hogwarts, not to mention his family supports Voldemort."

"Who?"

Harry then explained to me who Voldemort was, and how he was connected to Harry. After hearing about his parents' death, I understood him more. He seemed more angry than sad, and I couldn't blame him when I felt the same anger rising in me against the wizard who killed my family. He also told me about the events of the Tri Wizard Tournament.

"Why did you ask about Malfoy?"

"Oh, because I had a dream about you two fighting last night."

"That's weird."

I shrugged and went back to eating.

The following day we had to leave for Hogwarts. I followed the others' examples of running straight into a brick wall, holding onto Hermione who took it a little slower for me. Then I followed them onto the train, trying not to get lost in the crowd. Ron found an empty compartment for us to sit in. I sat with Hermione and stared out the window.

"Still bothering to come back?" I heard an unfamiliar voice ask our group. I turned from the window and found Malfoy sneering at my friends. Then he noticed me. "You even found a new friend."

"Leave her alone," Harry said, standing up between us and facing Malfoy.

"Is she so pathetic that she needs your protection?" I blushed and turned back to the window, hoping he'd go away soon.

"Just leave us alone," Hermione said.

"Did I hear the Mudblood speak?" I heard Harry yell and saw the two pointing wands at each other.

"Harry, stop!" Hermione yelled. Ron shoved Malfoy out of their compartment and shut the door. Harry sat down, placing his wand back in his robe. A few seconds passed before I plucked up the courage to ask a question.

"What's a 'Mudblood'?"

"It's a name for witches and wizards born from Muggles, people who normally wouldn't have magic," Hermione explained.

"It's a dirty word," Ron added, making sure I understood I was never to use it.

The rest of the ride to Hogwarts was uneventful, but as we drew closer to the castle I began to wonder about my position there. I was a Muggle; I had no magical abilities; and I had gathered from the others that no one knew what would happen to me as I hadn't been sorted by the "Sorting Hat" my first year. Harry assumed I'd be in Gryffindor with them, but explained about each house all the same. I thought I'd be most suited for Hufflepuff, but kept that thought to myself.

The train pulled to a stop and everyone piled out. Groups gathered to get into the carriages that would take us all to the castle. I tried not to freak out when the carriage pulled itself. I followed everyone inside and sat down at an enormous table covered with food. I looked up but couldn't see the ceiling of the room; instead I saw the night sky. Glancing around the room I recognized Malfoy sitting at another long table, and realized everyone sat with their house. At the front of the room, an old man stood up and the room quieted.

"Welcome students to another year at Hogwarts."

"That's Dumbledore," Harry whispered to me. I recognized his voice from our encounter in the Weasley's tool shed.

After a few more welcoming words, and after the newest students were sorted, everyone began eating. Conversations started, people asking about each other's summers. Harry, Ron, and Hermione introduced me to some of their friends, though their names soon faded from my mind. Dinner eventually ended and everyone headed to their house dormitory. I followed my friends, but we were stopped by a teacher who frightened me with his black cape and intense eyes.

"Professor Dumbledore would like to see the two of you," he told Harry and me.

"That was Professor Snape," Harry told me after we'd left the man behind, staring after us.

"Why does Professor Dumbledore want to see us?" He didn't know, so we continued in silence. He led the way and knocked on the door when we reached the Headmaster's office.

"Hello Harry, hello Amanda," Dumbledore said, seated behind his desk.

"Hello Professor," Harry said. I said nothing, uncomfortable around the old man.

"I wanted to speak with both of you apart from the other students," he said, looking at Harry. "Besides you, Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley family, no other students must know of your special circumstances, Amanda. I don't want you drawing attention to yourself. The professors all know so they will try to help you as much as they can. Harry, I want you and your friends to look out for her. I don't know why Lord Voldemort wants her, but I want her safe while I investigate. Harry, would you mind stepping outside for a minute. I'd like a moment alone with Amada." Harry nodded and left me alone in the large room. "I imagine you must be feeling scared and confused, with everything that's happened so far."

"Yes sir."

"Is there anything you can tell me that might make Lord Voldemort risk so much to get to you?" I remembered my dream and told him about it, deciding he didn't look like the kind of man who would intentionally make me feel stupid. "Thank you. I don't know if it means anything, but I will look into it. For now, you may go to the Gryffindor dormitory with Harry. I placed you in the same house as your friends."

"Thank you sir."

"Also, I want you to come see me every morning instead of going to class with your classmates." I nodded and left.

Harry stood just outside the door when I came out and I told him what was said. I followed him to the Gryffindor common room, where Hermione and the four Weasleys waited for us.

"What did Dumbledore want?" Ron asked. Harry quickly told them everything we'd been told, along with his own added warning.

"Dumbledore didn't say this, but I think we should also keep her away from Malfoy. I have a feeling he could cause trouble if he finds out who she is." Everyone agreed. Hermione then left with Ginny and me and showed me to my bed.

I couldn't fall asleep for a long time. I wondered why these things were happening to me. I wasn't special in any way. What did I do to deserve this? Why did my family have to be murdered? I again thought of my dream about Harry. No, it wasn't the first dream that came true. When I was in junior high I'd dreamed that my best friend got in fight with her parents. A few days later, she told me about fighting with them. I once dreamed about my brother missing school for some reason. The next day he woke up sick and had to miss a whole week of school. But still, having three dreams come true out of all the dreams I've had over the years wasn't enough reason for Voldemort to come after me. I gave up trying to figure things out and finally fell asleep.


	4. Classes

Hermione woke me up in the morning to make sure I had enough time to get ready. The girls were all very nice to me and asked me questions about the United States. I followed Hermione to breakfast, which consisted of more tasty food, and then on to my first class of the day. Normally I'd join the rest of my housemates in Transfiguration, but as I have no magical ability, I would stand out quite a bit. So I did as Dumbledore said and reported to his office first thing in the morning.

"Good morning, Amanda."

"Good morning Professor."

"Did you sleep well?"

"Not really."

"Did you have any bad dreams?" I shook my head. "That's good. Most days I won't have you come here for class, but rather spend time in the library working on homework for other classes. As you know, this class was an invention to keep you out of Transfiguration. I've already spoken with Professor McGonagall about it, in case anyone asks questions concerning your absence. Today, though, I thought I might let you begin by asking any questions you might have." He sat back in his chair and smiled at me, waiting for me to speak.

Many questions began flying through my brain, each as important as the next to me. Of course I wanted to know all I could about why I'd been taken from my home, why my family hadn't been protected, why in the middle of the night, and so many other whys. I didn't know which to ask first or how to word it. After several minutes of deliberation, I decided on one.

"Why is Voldemort after me?"

"Ah, the very question I first asked myself. I'm afraid I still don't know the answer to that. I don't know what he wants from you, or how he even became aware of you. I promise I will do my best to discover the answer to that question."

"How did you find out that he wanted me?"

"I cannot tell you that. That kind of information is dangerous, and I won't burden you with unnecessary secrets."

"Why didn't you get me yourself? Why send Fred and George?"

"I was afraid Lord Voldemort would notice if I suddenly disappeared, for I have reason to believe he remains aware of my comings and goings. I thought Fred and George would be less noticeable, especially with them so eager to use their new freedom to disapparate at will. Unfortunately, Lord Voldemort had already decided to take you and arrived at your house as you were leaving with Fred and George."

"If you knew he was interested in me, why didn't you do more to protect me? Why didn't you protect my family?" I shouted the last question at him. He sighed, but didn't answer right away. I waited, hoping for something that would ease my pain.

"That was a grave mistake on my part," he said slowly, staring at his hands rather than me. "I underestimated his response to losing you. He's always felt Muggles to be inferior, so he had no qualms about taking his anger at losing you out on your family. He may have hoped to instigate a response from us by killing them, or for you to do something reckless, such as seek him out." Tears threatened to spill down my cheeks, so I quickly turned my pain into anger towards Voldemort to force them back.

"Are you searching for him?"

"Things aren't quite that simple. Lord Voldemort is difficult to find, and we aren't prepared to attack him yet."

"What are you waiting for?" I stood up and glared at him, wanting him to give me a reason to hurt him.

"I think that's enough questions for today."

I recognized the dismissal. Grabbing my backpack, I left Dumbledore's office and headed towards my next class using the map Hermione had given me earlier in the day. My next class was Muggle Studies rather than Charms, another clever escape from a magic class, though it didn't start for another half hour. So instead I sat outside and tried to calm down.

I wasn't with any of my friends in that class, so I sat near the back and took notes. I enjoyed it for the most part except the few times the Professor made incorrect assumptions about Muggles, but I couldn't correct them without announcing my Muggle status, which was not an option, so I wrote down the information presented in class to memorize it later for tests.

My last class before lunch was Defense Against the Dark Arts. I sat next to Hermione in this class, across the aisle from Ron and Harry. They told me that so far every year they'd had a new professor. This year we had Professor Howley, a grumpy old man from the Ministry of Magic. He had us open to the first chapter of our book and read the entire class period, telling us we'd read the material and discuss it extensively before using our wands to practice any spells. This suited me just fine as I had no wand but could not get out of the class without causing too much speculation.

After lunch we all went to Herbology, in which Neville took me under his wing and told me he'd help me catch up to the rest of the class. He was very knowledgeable about plants, so I accepted his offer with much gratitude. After that class ended we headed to Potions with Professor Snape. I remembered him from the first night after the feast. The man scared me and I wasn't looking forward to his class, especially after hearing some of the stories from Ron and Harry.

"Good afternoon class," Professor Snape said as he walked into the classroom. Some of the Slytherins said hello, among them Malfoy I noticed.

After a brief explanation he had us start brewing a potion. With Harry's help I found the ingredients I needed and followed the instructions in my book. Everything went just like the book said it would, and Harry commented on my exceptional potion making skills.

"You might even give Hermione a run for her money," he whispered. Right then Professor Snape came over to check on my potion.

"Good job, Miss Williams," he drawled. I knew this was a big compliment from talking with Harry.

"Thank you Professor."

"Perhaps you could help Malfoy improve his potion making skills." Professor Snape led me over to Malfoy, who gave me a sneer after Professor Snape turned his back. I wasn't sure what Professor Snape was doing, since Malfoy was associated with Voldemort and the professors were supposed to be keeping me away from Voldemort. I pushed the questions from my mind and focused on Malfoy.

"I don't need your help," he said to me.

"Professor Snape asked me to help you." He rolled his eyes and shoved his book in my face. I asked him about a few steps and discovered his problem. He'd skipped adding an ingredient early on which had thrown off the rest of the recipe.

"Well aren't you little miss know-it-all? For someone who's never been to a real school you certainly catch on fast."

"I'm a quick leaner," I mumbled, staring at the floor.

"If you're so quick how come you have to have a special class with Dumbledore rather than take Transfiguration with the rest of us?"

"Dumbledore wanted to make sure I was caught up so I wouldn't fail the class." I began heading towards me seat, hoping I was done helping him.

"There's something strange about you, Williams, and I'm going to find out what."

I made no reply and sank back into my seat next to Harry. The class ended soon after and we headed to History of Magic. I nearly screamed when I found out the professor was a ghost. I'd always been terrified of ghosts. I'd seen a few around the castle, but I didn't expect to come so close to one. I noticed though that only Hermione and I stayed awake for the entire class; everyone else fell asleep within fifteen minutes. I found the subject fascinating, as I've always enjoyed history and this was new history with magic thrown in.

I woke up Harry at the end of class and together we headed to Divination. Ron and Hermione had opted to take Care of Magical Creatures instead. Harry and I found a table near the front of the room, where I got a good look at Professor Trelawney. She began speaking about the mysteries of divination, and calmed my fears by saying no one ever got it quite right except for the rare few who possessed the gift. I figured she wouldn't expect too much of me.

Our first task was to keep a journal of our dreams and write down what we thought they meant. She then had everyone write down one dream of theirs that came true. I could hear most people quietly complaining about not having had any dreams come true. I had the opposite problem. I decided to go with the dream about my brother and leave Harry out of the spotlight. Just as class ended and the students were filing out, I heard her call my name and ask me to stay a minute.

"Go on ahead to dinner Harry; I'll catch up with you." He nodded and continued with everyone else. I turned around and stood in front of Professor Trelawney.

"You wrote about a dream involving your brother?" I nodded. "How long ago was this dream? Have you had any other dreams come true?"

"Uh, that dream was last year. I've had two other dreams that came true." At her insistence I told her about my other two dreams, and of course she got excited when she heard one was about Harry.

"Oh, this is exciting! Finally a student with real potential." She continued talking to herself, so I said goodbye, though she didn't hear me, and headed to dinner. I dropped my bag off in the dormitory first, but then couldn't find my way to dinner because I left Hermione's map in my bag. I made turn after turn hoping to find the great hall, but instead found myself inextricably lost.

I decided to try and retrace my steps, but after a few turns I was lost again. I finally gave up and just wandered around, hoping to find someone or something familiar to set me straight. After another several minutes of making turns that led nowhere, I ran into George Weasley. I was sure it was George and not Fred because I'd finally learned to tell them apart.

"Where've you been?" he asked. Rather than waiting for an answer, he continued speaking. "We've been looking all over the castle for you. Harry told us Trelawney kept you after class, but even she finally showed up for dinner to talk to Dumbledore. How'd you end up here?"

"I don't know. I left my map in my room and got lost. I've been wandering around ever since."

"Well now you're found. Let's get back to the others so we can all finish eating; I'm sure your starving by now."

I followed George through the castle, trying unsuccessfully to remember the turns. All the while he talked about his and Fred's ideas for a joke shop. He told me about all the ideas they already had for products they could sell, and for some they even had working products. We ran into the others and went back into the great hall.

I ate my dinner quickly so we could go back to the dormitory with the others. We managed to get a little work done before heading off to Astronomy. I enjoyed that class, especially with Harry, Ron, and Hermione to help me catch up to where they were in the class. When that class ended, I left the group downstairs and went to sleep. I was tired from all the running around between classes and fell asleep instantly.


	5. Malfoy

I got used to the schedule pretty quickly, but was thankful when the weekend came and I had a chance to catch up on homework. In the morning, I was surprised when the Weasley's owl dropped a letter in front of me. I opened it and found a letter from Molly inside. She signed a consent letter to allow me to go to Hogsmeade with the others. I showed the letter to Prof. McGonagall, and she said it would count due to my special circumstances.

So when everyone left the next weekend, I made my first trip to Hogsmeade. Harry, Ron, and Hermione showed me all their favorite places, including the Shrieking Shack. Never having cared for horror or anything close to it, I managed to persuade them to leave that place early and head back to The Three Broomsticks. We snagged a booth near the back and sat down to enjoy a cup of butterbeer.

"Enjoying school so far?" Ron asked.

"It's okay."

"What did Trelawney want after divination?" Hermione asked.

"She wanted to talk to me about the dream I wrote about."

"Your dream about Harry?"

"Well, no, a different dream I had that came true."

"You mean you've had more than one?" Harry asked.

"Um, yes, I've actually had three." Each person stared at me, and I looked down at the table.

"Have you told Dumbledore about them?"

"No, just the one involving you, Harry."

"You need to tell him about the others," Hermione told me. "They might have something to do with why You Know Who is after you."

"Because I've had three dreams that just happened to come true? That's ridiculous. Everyone dreams, and I'm sure out of all the dreams at least one of them comes true. Haven't any of you had a dream that came true?" Ron and Hermione shook their heads, still staring at me.

"Only Harry's had a dream that was true." I turned towards Harry, who was looking at me. "It had to do with You Know Who," Hermione continued, "so maybe yours will too."

Harry thankfully turned the conversation to a more pleasant subject, allowing me to dwell on Hermione's statements. Perhaps my dreams _were_ why Voldemort was coming after me. Nothing I'd dreamed about though had anything to do with him. I suspect the only reason I had a dream about Harry is because he was on my mind.

We went back to the castle early; Hermione wanted us to get an early start on our History of Magic paper. While we were working in the common room, Professor McGonagall came in and told me Professor Dumbledore wanted to speak with me. I followed her to his office, thankful to have someone to show me the way. I still often got lost without someone to guide me around the castle.

"You wanted to see me Professor?" I asked as I walked into the office. Again he sat behind his desk, waiting for me to sit down before speaking.

"I wanted to inform you that I will be leaving for a short time, so our classes will be cancelled until further notice. I would like you to spend time in the library either working on homework, or perhaps thinking about why Lord Voldemort is interested in you."

"Why are you leaving?"

"I have urgent business that needs taking care of. I won't be gone long, but while I am, I urge you to be careful and not take any unnecessary risks." I promised to be careful and then returned to the common room.

I told my friends what happened and then finished my paper. When classes started on Monday, I made my way to the library as Professor Dumbledore instructed. I finished one homework assignment, but rather than start on another I decided to look for books about dreams. I found one book, but as I continued to read, the words shifted and changed on me. I gave up and did more homework until my next class.

In Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Professor Howley decided it was time to put our reading to the test. He assigned everyone into pairs in which we were to attack and defend using one spell for each. I was partnered with Ron. He spoke quickly to me and agreed to attack me under the pretense that I hadn't yet pulled out my wand; therefore I'd be injured and could go to the Infirmary for the rest of the class period.

I don't recall what spell he used, just that I suddenly found myself on the floor in pain. Hermione immediately told Professor Howley I needed to go to the Infirmary. He agreed and Ron helped me get there. Before we left the classroom I noticed Malfoy giving me a weird look. I pretended not to notice him.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked me when we were out in the hall.

"I think so. Do you think anyone noticed I didn't have a wand?"

"No. Besides, things like this have happened before."

I was quickly checked at the Infirmary and declared fine. Ron walked with me to lunch, where Hermione and Harry asked how I was. I told them what the nurse said to me. As we left the great hall to go to Herbology, I realized I'd left my bag in Defense Against the Dark Arts in my hurry to get out of the class. I quickly told the others my dilemma.

"I can get it for you," Harry offered.

"No, that's okay. I'm pretty sure I can get my bag without getting lost. You guys go on ahead; I'll catch up with you in Herbology." I quickly made my way through the hallways back to the classroom and found my bag next to my seat.

I grabbed it and headed down the hall when someone grabbed my from behind. I was spun on my feet and shoved against the wall. My head hit hard and I cried out softly at the pain. Malfoy appeared in front of me and he didn't look happy.

"Thought you could get away with that little stunt in class, did you?" I said nothing. "Answer me!" He shoved me into the wall again, his hand pressed against my throat, keeping me pinned to the wall.

"What stunt?" I managed to squeak out.

"You had Ron attack you so you could go to the Infirmary."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you don't have a wand."

"Of course I do."

"Show it to me then." He held out his hand and waited. I thought quickly, hoping he wouldn't figure out my secret.

"I left it in my room this morning."

"You're lying. No witch or wizard would ever forget their wand. You don't have one, do you?"

"Malfoy!" We both turned at the sound of the voice. Professor Snape stood at the end of the hallway staring at us. Malfoy quickly removed his hand from my throat. "I believe you're going to be late to Herbology if you continue standing there talking to Miss Williams." Malfoy started walking down the hall. I began to follow him. "Wait there Miss Williams, I need to speak with you. Malfoy you may go on to class and explain why she will be late." Malfoy continued walking, and though I was glad to be rid of him, I felt I'd only avoided one problem to find another. "Follow me," Professor Snape said.

I followed him down the hallway and into his office. He shut the door and motioned for me to sit down in the chair facing his desk. Once I was seated, he stood in front of me and set the full force of his glare on me.

"What were you doing with Malfoy?"

"I- we were just talking," I stuttered.

"As I'm sure you remember, the headmaster asked you to avoid drawing attention to yourself. The stunt you pulled in your Defense Against the Dark Arts class was anything but subtle, not that I expect much from having Weasley for your partner. Still, I advise you to be more careful. I won't always be around to save you from questioning students." I nodded in agreement. "I suggest you hurry to Herbology before drawing further attention to yourself."

I nodded again and rushed from the room. Simply being around him made me nervous. I arrived in class only a few minutes late, and Neville caught me up on what we were doing in class. As we worked, Harry tried to ask what happened, but I told him to be quiet. I didn't want to say anything with Malfoy nearby. I promised to explain later.

During Potions, Professor Snape ignored me for the most part, probably trying to make sure I got the message to not draw attention to myself. Basically I tried to be invisible. Harry helped me when I needed to use a wand for part of the instructions, disguising it as showing me what to do.

In Divination, Professor Trelawney announced we were going to start working with crystal balls. She explained we were to stare into the ball and when she came by tell her what we saw. Then we would write it down and analyze it using the books we bought. Harry rested his head on his arm, pretending to stare into the ball while actually falling asleep. I, being a good student, stared into the ball. As I looked at the swirling mist inside, I noticed a vague shadow start to emerge. I looked closer and recognized the shape as Malfoy. He appeared to be holding someone, with the person struggling against him. He handed the person to someone else, someone I didn't recognize. This person grabbed Malfoy's prisoner and threw that person outside my vision. Then he pointed something at Malfoy, something resembling a wand, and shouted words I couldn't hear. Then Malfoy disappeared from my vision as well and all that was left was the stranger. He turned to look at me then, and I pushed away from the ball in fear, knocking it off the table. Harry woke up and Professor Trelawney hurried over to me.

"What did you see my dear?" Professor Trelawney asked.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked.

I was breathing hard, still unsure about what I saw yet scared all the same. The eyes of the stranger were glowing red when he turned to look at me. It felt as though he could see me. And when he appeared to point his wand at Malfoy, I was afraid that was what caused him to disappear. I wasn't sure what to make of it all.

By now everyone was staring at me and waiting for me to explain what I saw. Thankfully Malfoy wasn't in the class, but I couldn't risk saying his name. When I finally explained to Professor Trelawney what happened, I changed it to some Hogwarts student, which I knew only because of the Hogwarts robe. Professor Trelawney began talking about how I was the brightest student she'd ever had. Harry just stared at me. When class ended, before Harry and I could leave so I could tell him about Malfoy, two girls stopped me.

"Hi Amanda, I'm Parvati and this is Lavender. We were wondering if you'd want to sit with us during dinner. We know all sorts of things about Divination and would love to help you improve your 'seeing' abilities."

"Uh, sure," I said. I shrugged at Harry, who shrugged back.

I followed the girls to dinner and listened to them prattle on about everything Professor Trelawney had taught them in Divination and how wonderful she was. I found out these two girls were Professor Trelawney's biggest fans. I figured they wouldn't help me figure out why I had dreams and visions, but they seemed nice enough, and I wanted to be polite. More friends could never be a bad thing.

After dinner and listening to Lavender talk about her first experience of seeing something in the crystal ball, I rejoined Harry and the others in the common room to do some homework before we had to leave for Astronomy.


	6. Discovery

_Hermione ran through the forest. She looked behind her, looking for the person or thing following her. Her eyes widened and she ran faster, but she tripped over a tree root and fell face first in the dirt. She quickly turned over and scooted backwards across the forest floor, still staring at whatever was coming after her. Finally she back__ed into an old, moss covered tree, and before she could move somewhere else, her pursuer caught up to her. She screamed._

I woke up sweating and panting. I felt like I'd been running right along with Hermione, though I didn't know what chased us. I quickly looked around the room and noticed her empty bed. My feet landed on the cold tile as I flew out of bed. I threw open the door and called out Hermione's name. She didn't answer. I then proceeded to wake up Harry and Ron.

"What're you on about?" Ron mumbled as he turned over to go back to sleep.

"I said Hermione's missing and I'm pretty sure she's in trouble!"

Harry put on his glasses and helped me drag Ron out of bed. Once they understood what I was saying, they followed me through the castle and outside. I didn't listen to their warnings about the dangers in the forest; I couldn't. I knew I'd get scared and lose my nerve and Hermione needed us right then, I just knew it. So I plunged into the forest and began screaming Hermione's name. Harry and Ron used their wands to light our way so we could avoid running into anything. After about thirty minutes of searching, we found Hermione curled up in a little ball, next to the tree from my dream.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Are you alright?" Ron asked at the same time. Hermione slowly sat up and looked at all of us. "You look a fright. Are you hurt?" She shook her head.

"No, I'm alright."

"What happened?" Harry repeated.

"I was in the library looking up a book for our History of Magic essay when I looked through the window and saw Malfoy outside, heading into the forest. I followed him in and overheard him talking to someone. I didn't see who, and I didn't recognize the voice, but they were talking about you, Amanda." Everyone glanced at me. "They didn't mention you by name, and I don't think they know who you are specifically yet, which is good. I tried to get closer to see who Malfoy was talking to, and I stepped on a twig. Malfoy started chasing me, so I started running. I tried to head back to Hogwarts, but I got turned around and couldn't figure out which way to go. Then I tripped and landed here at this tree. Malfoy caught up to me and used the _Cruciatus Curse_ on me. He was asking about Amanda, but I wouldn't tell him anything. Then he heard you yelling and took off, probably back to the castle."

The group sat speechless. Harry stirred first, helping Hermione up from the tree. Then he and Ron helped her back to the castle with me following. Once we made it back to the common room, Hermione made us sit on the couches so I could explain how I knew. I told her about my dream, all the while becoming aware of how sore my feet were from running around the forest barefoot.

"When Dumbledore gets back you need to tell him about this dream," Harry told me. "Since we're all up, why don't you tell us what happened to you before Herbology."

I told them about my encounter with Malfoy and Professor Snape, and even told them about Malfoy's part in my crystal ball vision. They reiterated that I should tell Dumbledore everything when he returned and then agreed to go back to bed. Unfortunately, I couldn't fall asleep again that night. I thought about Malfoy talking to someone about me and kept seeing shadows in the room that I imagined was Voldemort trying to kidnap me.

The next morning when I was in the library, I decided to try finding books about divination. Since the subject included dreams and crystal balls it might help me discover why Voldemort was after me. I found a book that explained the origins of divination, which was rather boring but insightful. It gave an account of the entire history of seers. While I didn't read all of it, which would have taken me weeks probably, I found one section of particular interest:

_Phineas Munch, proven seer, was forced to use his abilities to __predict the future in order  
to save his mother. The wizard, Roland __Stebbins, held his mother hostage while Phineas  
looked into the __future to find a way for Stebbins to take over the Ministry of Magic. __Munch  
tricked Stebbins, leading to Stebbins' arrest and Munch's __mother's release. Ever after, seers  
hid themselves and their abilities __in order to remain free from the risk of being controlled  
by malicious __witches and wizards._

I suddenly realized that Voldemort must have found out about my dreams that had come true and thought perhaps he could use me to see the future. And now that I'd had more dreams come true and seen a vision in the crystal ball, I began to wonder if maybe I could see into the future despite being a Muggle. If Voldemort ever did catch me, he'd either find out I can only do it randomly, not on command, and be angry, or find out I wouldn't do anything to help him, and be angrier. I copied the passage down and hurried to my next class, eager to tell the others what I'd found.


	7. Quidditch

When it came time for lunch, I discovered Harry, Ron, and Hermione had disappeared, most likely to Hagrid's. I never noticed them disappear on way from Defense Against the Dark Arts. Not wanting to wander around looking for them, I took Fred and George's invitation and sat with them. They introduced me to their friend Lee Jordan, who immediately started asking me questions. It was easy to see how the three became friends.

"What do your parents do?" Lee asked halfway through the meal. I swallowed my bite with difficulty, as my throat closed up with sudden emotion. I tried to think quickly, but thankfully the twins came to my rescue.

"Her parents both work in the Muggle world," Fred said. Everyone had agreed on what to say about my parents and their jobs before leaving for school so there would be no confusion between stories.

"Oh, that's cool. Did you go to a Muggle school before Hogwarts then?" I nodded. "My parents pretty much kept me away from Muggles, said they weren't very interesting." The topic changed to the upcoming Quidditch game and the odds against Ravenclaw. I ate my food in silence, paying attention as they talked about the game.

I was excited when the game started in the afternoon. I still hadn't found Hermione or Ron, and Harry was with the team, so I sat with Neville, Seamus, and Dean. They tried to explain the rules to me, but never having been one for sports, they gave up and teased me in good fun. I helped them cheer on Harry when he raced Slytherin's Seeker for the Snitch. Neither caught it that time, so I returned my attention to the game.

Fred and George were flying across the field, chasing a Bludger that was heading for Gryffindor's Keeper. Fred hit it away just in time. The game continued, and points continued stacking up for each team. Finally I saw Harry fly after the Snitch again, though try as I might I could never see it. He reached out and apparently caught it because the stands erupted in applause and shouts, especially from the Gryffindors. Everyone began filing down to the field to congratulate our team, but before I could reach them I heard someone scream. Harry appeared to be writhing in pain on the field and the professors were in a panic. Chaos reigned, with professors trying to reach Harry and students running every which way. I made my way through the crowd to the Gryffindor team, reaching Fred and George first.

"What's going on?" I asked them. "What happened to Harry?"

"Never mind that," Fred said. "We need to get you out of here right now."

That statement confused me, but they wouldn't tell me what they meant by it. They grabbed me and pushed their way through the crowd, taking me back to the common room. Most of the Gryffindors had stayed with Harry to find out what was wrong and to make sure he'd be okay, so the three of us were alone in the room for the moment.

"What's going on?" I asked them.

"We think someone was using the _Cruciatus Curse_ on Harry," Fred said.

"But only as a way to get to you," George finished. "With everyone panicking, it would be easy to grab you in the crowd and carry you off without anyone noticing."

"But who would . . ." I stopped mid-sentence, knowing perfectly well who would want to kidnap me. "But I thought Voldemort couldn't get into Hogwarts."

"He can't," Fred said, "but some of his followers can, like Malfoy."

"I don't recall seeing him at the game."

"That doesn't me he wasn't there," George told me. "He could have been the one cursing Harry. He could have told Crabbe and Goyle to get you for him. They do anything he tells them to."

I was scared as I realized what they said was true. It would be easy to grab me in the crowd and disappear without anyone noticing. I hoped Harry would be alright, but assumed someone would take him to the infirmary. A few minutes passed and people started returning from the field. Amongst the stragglers was Hermione. She caught sight of us and immediately came over.

"Harry's in the infirmary, but he'll be fine. The nurse said there are no broken bones and no other injuries as far as she can tell." Fred, George, and I followed her back to Harry, all the while listening as she kept talking. "The professors are livid, knowing that someone intentionally cursed Harry. They're determined to find out who did it, though their chances are slim as everyone is back in their rooms now and the only people who would have seen anything aren't likely to tell."

"So do you think it was Malfoy?" Fred asked. Hermione shrugged, not wanted to answer verbally as we had reached the infirmary.

Harry was surrounded by the rest of the Quidditch team, who were all eager to know when Harry could leave. After we stood around a little longer, the nurse told us she wanted Harry to spend the night, but she expected him to be fine and ready to leave in the morning. Once everyone else had left, I asked Ron and Hermione where they had been during the game.

"Professor McGonagall asked us to lay low and keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary," Hermione answered.

"You could probably call it guard duty," Ron added.

"Some guards you turned out to be," Fred and George commented.

"But did you guys see who cursed Harry?" I asked.

"No, but I'm pretty sure it was Malfoy, as he seemed to be watching you for most of the game," Hermione said. "I'm betting he was waiting for a chance to get close enough to you to grab you. Why, I don't know."

We left Harry there to go get dinner, but I didn't eat much. After learning that someone had purposely hurt Harry to get to me, I was scared. I was terrified that if they didn't get me soon, more people would be hurt because of me. But even more so, I was afraid of what would happen when they did get me.

After dinner, I remembered the passage I'd copied from the book in the library earlier. When we reached Harry, I showed it to the group and told them what I thought about it. They all agreed with me, and used what happened at the Quidditch game as proof. They promised to keep a close eye on me and Malfoy.


	8. Detention

I was lost, again. You'd think I would have learned my way around the castle by now, but somehow I managed to get caught on the stairs when they moved. The moment the stair case stopped moving I jumped off and looked around me. I was in a dimly lit hallway I'd never seen before. I turned around to get back on the staircase and try to get back to someplace familiar, but it had already moved on. I told myself I would just have to find another way down. After several minutes wandering around, I decided to head back to the stairs.

"What are you doing up here?" a voice asked from behind. I turned around and found myself looking at Argus Filch.

"I got lost, and was trying to find a way back to the great hall."

"Sure you were."

He said no more but grabbed my arm and dragged me through the castle to Professor Snape's office. Either it was the closest one to us or he figured Snape would be more likely to give me an unpleasant punishment. Snape ignored me while he listened to Filch speak.

"Caught this one where she wasn't supposed to be. I think punishment is in order."

"Very well," Professor Snape said in that drawl of his. "She can serve detention with me after the Halloween feast tonight."

Thankfully after that they let me leave, and I headed straight back to the common room. The others asked me where I'd been, and I told them about getting lost, caught by Filch, and having to serve detention with Professor Snape after dinner. I ate slowly, trying to prolong my time of rest before detention, but eventually I had to leave.

"Good evening Amanda," he said as I entered his office.

"Good evening Professor."

"You're going to help me clean out my potions closet."

I followed him to a small room in the back of his office. Inside I saw tons of bottles, bags, and labels identifying more potions ingredients that I could even imagine. I helped him re-label the ones whose labels had worn away, throw away things that had gone bad, clean empty bottles, and put new ingredients into containers. We spoke very little the entire time, until he finally said I could leave. On my way out I checked the clock, which told me I'd been in there for two and a half hours. Just outside the door Harry sat waiting for me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"I wanted to make sure nothing had happened to you since you'd been gone for so long. What were you doing?"

"Helping Professor Snape clean out his potions ingredients closet." As we rounded the corner, we stopped because Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were blocking our way.

"Where are you two off to so fast?" Malfoy asked as we tried to get past them. Crabbe and Goyle prevented us, pushing us back to our original positions.

"We don't want any trouble Malfoy, just let us pass," Harry said.

"That's too bad, isn't it? I have some unfinished business with your friend here, and we're not going anywhere until she answers my questions."

"Is there a problem here?" Snape suddenly asked from behind Harry and me. I never heard him approach, and judging from the looks on Malfoy and his buddies' faces, neither did they. Malfoy quickly recovered and answered before Harry could get a word out.

"I just had a few questions for Williams about your homework and I knew she had detention with you so I was waiting for a chance to talk with her."

"I think you had all better get started on that homework rather than stand here talking about it. Amanda, you left this in my office." He handed me a piece of paper, then turned around. Malfoy and his goons followed the professor as he was walking in the direction of their dorms. Harry and I quickly made our way to the Gryffindor common room where I promptly opened the note Professor Snape had given me. I knew it was important as I hadn't left any such paper in his office when I left.

"What does it say?" Harry asked me. Hermione and Ron joined us on the couches, listening to my answer.

"It just says 'Be Careful,' nothing else. What do you think it means? Could he be trying to warn me about something?"

"I doubt it," Ron mumbled. "He's more likely to lead you into a trap than warn you about one."

"But Snape gave her the piece of paper for a reason," Hermione interjected. "It has to mean something. What did you talk about during detention?"

"Nothing. The most he ever said was one sentence, telling me how to put some weird ingredient into a different container. Apparently the jar it was in was contaminated."

"Hmm, we'll have to wait and see if we figure something out. Until then, time for homework." The boys groaned, dreading the thought of writing the essay for Professor Snape on the proper way to brew a particular potion, naming common amateur mistakes and explaining all the ways to avoid those mistakes. We finished up our essay late into the evening, and I followed Hermione up to bed, hoping for a restful night's sleep.


	9. Nightmare on Christmas

November passed quickly, especially without celebrating Thanksgiving as I was in England rather than American, where they didn't celebrate that particular holiday. Dumbledore canceled our morning "class" for the remained of school until after the winter break. He told me he was still busy with things, but wouldn't go into detail. Before our last meetings, I did bring the piece of paper from Professor Snape and the passage I'd copied from the library book. I wanted to see what he thought about them.

"Very interesting," he said about the book passage. "After telling me about your dreams and their manifestations in real life, and after hearing from Professor Trelawney about your abilities in her Divination class, I could see how this is a possibility. This could be the very reason Voldemort wants you, but we cannot be sure. I will do my best to find out, but you must have patience. In the mean time, I would take Professor Snape's warning to heart. He gave you this note for a reason, though he has not seen fit to discuss it with me, but one can never be too cautious in my experience. What are your plans for the holiday?"

"I hadn't really thought about it much, but I suppose I would just go home with the Weasleys as I don't have my own home to return to anymore."

"I thought you might decide that. But might I make a suggestion?" I nodded, always interested in his suggestions. "I think you might be safer if you remained at Hogwarts for the duration of the holiday. Most of the students travel home, and I know Draco Malfoy is going home. By staying here, you will be more protected, limiting Voldemort's opportunities of getting close to you or observing you. I'm sure your friends would stay with you, as you should not be alone wherever you decide to go."

"What if I have another dream?"

"From what you've told me, only one dream required any action on your part, and you did well getting to Hermione when you did. In my absence, I would suggest you speak with Professor McGonagall, should you feel the need for advice. And again, I urge you to be cautious. We can never know who Voldemort might have influence over inside this school."

"Thank you Professor."

"I hope you have a happy Christmas, Amanda."

"You too, sir."

Upon returning to the Gryffindor common room and finding everyone there, I told my friends about Dumbledore's advice, and they all agreed to stay at Hogwarts with me over the break, just like he said they would. I gave them all hugs, thankful for their company. Ginny wrote to her mother, telling her of their decision.

The first day of break it snowed. We were forced to stay inside until the storm eased up. It stopped shortly before dinner. I grew up in an area where it never snowed, and rarely rained at that, so I convinced everyone to go outside and play in the snow with me. It didn't take much convincing. I helped Hermione and Ginny build a snowman, but the boys destroyed it before we could even get the head on. Then they hit us with a barrage of snowballs.

We began throwing snowballs back at them, and several students nearby joined in our fight. It grew until there was no more snow in the immediate vicinity useable for snowballs. Harry and Ron conceded, though Fred and George declared themselves victor over everyone, including the rest of their team. As payback, we pushed them down a hill and ran inside to change before dinner. They met up with us in the great hall and they laughed about it good-naturedly.

That night we all stayed up late talking and sharing stories of former Christmases. I opened up about my family Christmas traditions. As I had never spoken about my parents before, due to my emotions being too raw from their death, they were all eager to hear my stories. I told them how growing up they encouraged my belief in Santa Clause and even my father's parents, who sent presents through mail because they lived in a different state, sent some with tags labeled "From: Santa Clause." I enjoyed hearing their stories too, not knowing anything about Christmas traditions in England, let alone for witches and wizards. But eventually we went to bed, wanting to get up somewhat early and open presents.

_"Crucio!" I screamed in agony as Malfoy tortured me, trying to force me to tell him everything about myself. He yelled at me, telling me everything he thought he knew about me, most of it correct. He swore that once I'd told him everything, he'd take me to the Dark Lord, who would use me to defeat Dumbledore once and for all and take over the entire magical world._

"Amanda, wake up!" Hermione was shouting at me. I came out of my dream, sweating and breathing heavily. I knew I had screamed out loud while I was sleeping, waking up Hermione and Ginny. Thankfully none of the other girls in our room had stayed at Hogwarts over the break, so I didn't have to worry about their questions. "What were you dreaming about?" she asked me. "You were thrashing in your bed and screamed just before you woke up."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." I explained what I'd seen in my dream. I was still breathing heavily, still scared about my dream.

"You need to speak with Professor McGonagall now," she told me. I nodded and the three of us left.

We met Harry and Ron waiting on the stairs, demanding to know what was going on. They'd heard me scream but couldn't get up to our room thanks to an enchantment on the stairs. Hermione briefly explained my dream and our decision to visit Professor McGonagall. They came with us.

"What do you want at this hour?" Professor McGonagall asked when she saw us standing at her door.

"Amanda needs to talk with you," Hermione said.

We were ushered into her room, where we sat down on the various chairs and couches. I explained what Dumbledore told me about speaking with her while he was gone. Then I explained, in detail, everything that had occurred in my dream. Hermione spoke up at the end and explained how I'd acted in my sleep while having the dream. Professor McGonagall got up and walked around the small room, thinking about what we'd told her. After a few minutes, she turned back towards us with a grave face.

"This is very serious, I hope you all know that. Professor Dumbledore has explained to me the dreams and visions you've told him about, making sure I understood what was going on. Obviously, if this is another dream about the future, we need to do whatever we can to keep you away from Malfoy. He's gone home for the holiday, so I think we can assume this dream isn't about the near future. But that is all I can say for now. I will try and contact Professor Dumbledore, but I think you all should try and go back to sleep for the rest of the night. Hopefully some restful sleep will ease your minds." And with that, she sent us back to bed.

I couldn't go back to sleep, so I went down to the common room to read until everyone else got up. Fred and George had slept through the nights' events, so we filled them in before opening presents. We decided to not think about my dream and enjoy Christmas. I was surprised when George handed me a present from Molly. She knitted me a scarf, similar to the one she knit Hermione. Harry gave me a box of chocolates from Hogsmeade. There was one other present for me, from Professor Dumbledore. Inside the box was the family photo album from my house, with pictures of my parents, my brother, and me throughout the years. I started crying, but I was so happy he'd been able to save it. It was nice to have something to remember them by. Everyone was nice and asked to see the pictures. Some required a brief explanation to understand what was going on, but they enjoyed hearing it all.

We enjoyed the rest of the break and avoided thinking about Voldemort, Malfoy, and my dream. We played in the snow and even took time to work on homework, thanks to Hermione's firm suggestion. But soon the students came back and classes started up again.


	10. Dumbledore's Idea

On the first day of classes, Professor Dumbledore had returned and continued our classes. I immediately thanked him for giving me the photo album, but then asked if he'd found anything else in my home.

"I'm afraid your house has already been sold and purchased by a new family. I managed to track down the photo album from another location before it was destroyed. It had been overlooked when your home was cleared of anything valuable."

"Have you found out anything new about what Voldemort wants with me?" Dumbledore shook his head. I sighed, wishing he could find something out, but I realized my impatience wasn't helping him. He was doing everything he could for me, including protecting me by hiding me in his school.

"Professor McGonagall informed me of the dream you had over the holiday. I assume nothing has happened since then?" I assured him nothing had happened, with Malfoy home for the break. He nodded, and then switched topics completely on me. "I was wondering if you might indulge me. I have been giving your abilities a great deal of thought, and wondered if I might run a sort of experiment on you. It will not hurt you physically, though it may strain your mind a bit. Are you willing to try?"

"I guess."

"You've never been able to call on your abilities, but rather they manifest rather randomly. When you studied crystal balls with Professor Trelawney, though, you saw something. I wondered if we might try again, and see if you could begin to develop these abilities more."

I followed him to a table at the other end of the room, and sat down across from him. Between us was a crystal ball like the ones used in Professor Trelawney's class. I wondered if I'd be able to focus myself and train myself to see in to the future. Obviously I'd had more dreams since being around the wizarding world, so maybe it was possible. I had the fleeting idea that maybe somewhere back in my ancestry there was a witch or wizard with some seeing abilities, and somehow they'd skipped all the previous generations before me. But that was probably impossible, so I focused my attention back on the crystal ball.

I tried to remember what I'd been thinking about when I saw something the first time in the ball, but I couldn't remember thinking about anything, except doing what I was told. So I tried to clear my mind and focus on the future. I could see Professor Dumbledore looking at me from the other side of the table, and wondered what he was thinking. Did he think I had the ability to look into the future at will if I practiced? Is that why he was having me do this? Did he want to use me to help fight against Voldemort? Would I even be useable in that way? These questions and more filled my head, keeping me from focusing on the crystal ball. After several minutes of nothing, I gave up and looked at Professor Dumbledore.

"I guess I can't do it. I'm sorry."

"You've done nothing wrong; you need not apologize. Perhaps you just need more time to practice. After all, very few witches or wizards get their first spells right on the first try. That's why they come to school, to practice." I nodded, not sure if he was being polite or truly believed I just needed to practice. "Why don't you continue to practice on your own time? You don't need a crystal ball, just close your eyes and try to see something in your mind's eye. If it helps, focus on a person and see if that helps you."

After that, he sent me off to my next class. During Divination class that day, I ignored what Professor Trelawney was talking about, something to do with tea leaves, closed my eyes, and tried to see into the future. With Harry sitting across from me, I decided to try focusing on him. Several minutes passed and nothing happened. I kept trying though, deciding I had nothing else to really do in that class. After several more minutes, Harry's face appeared in my mind's eye. He was very clear, but he looked different. He had a cut above his right eye that was bleeding badly, and his glasses were cracked and sitting crooked on his face.

"Amanda?" Harry's voice pulled me out of my trance, causing me to lose the picture before I could see anything else. "Are you okay? You've been sitting there, not moving, for ten minutes now. Class is over."

"Sorry, I was trying something Professor Dumbledore suggested." I followed him out of the classroom and spoke as we walked towards the dining hall. "He suggested I try and develop my abilities more, so I was focusing on seeing into the future during class."

"Did you see anything?"

"Not at first. So I tried concentrating on you, and then I did see something. I saw you, but you were bleeding and your glasses were broken. You looked like you'd been in a fight. But then I lost the picture when you spoke."

"Sorry."

"It's okay, you didn't know what I was doing. And besides, I'm starving."

For the rest of the week, I tried hard to channel my abilities and see into the future when I wanted to, rather than just waiting for it to happen. But aside from the time in Divination, I was unable to see anything. I became frustrated, but Dumbledore encouraged me to keep trying. He said I just needed more practice. He fully believed I had the ability to see the future at will, I just had to discipline my mind.


	11. A Dangerous Encounter

The next Quidditch game was announced the following week, Gryffindor against Ravenclaw. At dinner that night, the conversation centered around the upcoming Quidditch game, with bets on who would win. Fred and George were keeping track of all the bets, like usual. I sided with Hermione and Ron, who said Harry would catch the Golden Snitch and win the game. But they told me I probably wouldn't get to watch the game as they weren't sure it would be safe. No one knew if Malfoy would try to get to me again in the same way. When we'd all finished eating, Neville offered to help me with our Herbology homework, but I told him I was actually going to work on my Defense Against the Dark Arts essay in the library. I spent an hour and half there finishing my essay. I packed up and headed back to the common room to get my books for Astrology. On my way out of the library, I saw Crabbe walking towards me. As I turned a corner, I saw Goyle coming towards me down that corridor. I was cornered. Crabbe covered my mouth to keep me from screaming, and together they dragged me into an empty classroom nearby. Inside, Malfoy stood waiting for me.

"Good work. Wait outside and stand guard. Make sure no one gets inside." They nodded and left the room. "Hello Williams, we finally get some uninterrupted time together." I said nothing. He came at me, but I quickly put a desk between us. "What's the matter, scared?" I remained silent, wishing I could think of some way to get out.

"Look, you're going to tell me what I want to know, right now. So who are you? Where are you from?" I said nothing. "Did Dumbledore bring you here? Is he hiding you here to keep you from the Dark Lord? Answer me!" Still I kept my mouth shut. "Fine. I think I know a way to make you talk. Crucio!"

I collapsed on the ground in pain. He shouted questions at me, but all I could think about was the pain. After I screamed for him to stop, he did. I took several deep breaths and pulled myself up, using the desk for support.

"I know you're not a witch. You're only in one class that requires the use of a wand, and every time we use them, you either 'hadn't pulled it out yet' and get injured and sent to the infirmary, or you conveniently forget it back in your room, something no witch or wizard would ever do. You claim to have magical parents, but my father's looked them up and there's no record of them ever attending a magical school. So I know you're the muggle girl the Dark Lord's been looking for, the one who's able to see into the future. Tell me, did you see this coming?"

He began cursing me again, and once more I fell to the floor in pain. I could see on his face how much he was enjoying this. He loved causing me pain. After all, I'd evaded him so many times that I imagined his father and even Voldemort were becoming impatient with his failure. I knew I couldn't admit to being the girl he was looking for, even though we both knew he was right. I needed to keep even the smallest trace of doubt in his mind. But I couldn't keep my mouth shut forever. The door to the room opened, causing Malfoy to immediately end the curse. I was breathing heavily. If he cursed me again, I'd probably say anything to get him to stop.

"Pansy, what are you doing here?" Malfoy asked the newcomer. I recognized her as always following Malfoy around.

"I knew you'd skipped dinner to prepare, so I brought you some food. It's not much, but I thought you'd like it."

While Malfoy was distracted by Pansy and the food, I steeled myself and ran for the door. Malfoy noticed too late; I was already through the door. Crabbe and Goyle were too slow to grab me as I passed them running through the door, and too dumb to know what spell to use to stop me. They began chasing me though. I was tired from Malfoy's cursing me, and slowing down despite my efforts to run faster. Soon they caught up with me. Goyle tackled me to the ground, hitting my head on the stone floor. I could feel myself getting close to passing out.

"Stupefy!" I recognized George's voice as Goyle flew off me. I turned over and watched him and Crabbe run back to Malfoy.

"Get her back to the common room; we'll take care of Malfoy!" Harry shouted.

George picked me and literally ran back to the common room carrying me. He must have realized I was in no shape to walk anywhere, let alone run. Hermione ran along side us, probably in case someone got past Harry, Ron, and Fred and came after us. No one did, and we made it back to the common room. No one was in there, thankfully. I realized they were all still in Astrology. Soon the other three came back. Harry had a cut on his forehead that was bleeding and his glasses were broken. I recognized his face from my vision.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked me.

"I'll be alright," I said, though I felt far from it. I didn't want them to worry anymore than they already were.

"What happened to you?"

"Crabbe and Goyle cornered me as I was leaving the library and dragged me into the classroom where Malfoy was waiting. He used the Cruciatus Curse on me, trying to make me tell him everything, but I didn't say anything. He pretty much knows everything already though. But then Pansy Parkinson came in to bring him some food, and that's when I ran out of the room. How did you guys find me, and what did you do with Malfoy?"

"Well, when you never showed up for Astrology we knew something was wrong. So Harry, Ron, and I told Professor Sinistra we'd go find you. We ran into Fred and George when we came back to the common room to see if you'd showed up, and they joined us in looking for you. We were just wandering around the castle when we saw you running."

"We chased Crabbe and Goyle back to the classroom where Malfoy was waiting," Harry said. "We got into a fight but they ran off. He's the one who gave me this cut and broke my glasses." Hermione quickly fixed his glasses with a spell.

"You should go to the infirmary and get that cut healed up," she told him. "Actually, we ought to take you there to, just in case."

"I'll be fine," I told her. I knew I didn't have any physical injuries and didn't want to answer any questions. Harry's injury would be easily explained by a simple lie.

"What were you going to tell the nurse, Hermione?" Fred asked her.

"Fine, you all stay here then. I'm taking Harry to the infirmary to make sure he's okay." Ron followed them, also wanting to make sure his friend was okay, so I was left with Fred and George.

"Thanks for coming to my rescue guys," I told them.

"Hey, you managed to get away on your own," Fred told me.

"And without any magic," George added.

I smiled, but it was only for a second. I was suddenly overwhelmed with everything that had happened, and I started crying. I could feel Fred and George standing awkwardly, not sure how to react. By now I was sitting up on the couch, with my arms around my legs and my head resting on my knees. Finally they sat down next to me, one on each side. They said a few words, trying to comfort me. It eased some of my pain, though not enough, but I appreciated the gesture. By the time the other three returned, my tears had subsided considerably. Eventually, after the others had tried to comfort me as well and I'd thanked them for rescuing me, I went to bed. I didn't want to be in there crying when people returned from class. I feel asleep immediately, but had nightmares involving Malfoy during the night.


	12. A Glimpse of the Future

Following Malfoy's attack, everyone kept a close eye on him and me. I was never allowed to go anywhere alone, and they always tried to keep someone watching Malfoy so we knew where he was. But he never made any attempt to get close to me again. He seemed to basically ignore me like he did my friends. I couldn't figure it out. I was sure he knew he was right about me, but I couldn't be sure. And if he did know he was right, it made no sense that he wasn't making any effort to get close to me. Nevertheless, we all kept our eyes on him. Dumbledore too watched him more closely after hearing what happened to me.

"I do not pretend to know why Malfoy seems content to stay away from you at the moment," he told me. "In the meantime, have you had any more success in seeing into the future on command?" I shook my dejectedly.

"I'm afraid the only time I saw anything was the one time in Divination when I saw Harry's face. Since then, nothing. I've tried again and again, but I can't seem to focus long enough or hard enough. Am I doing something wrong?"

"I'm sure you're doing your best. Just keep trying. For now, you'd best head to your next class. We wouldn't want you to be late."

I nodded and arrived at my next class in plenty of time. Throughout the day, I kept trying to bring up images from the future, but nothing happened. It wasn't until Divination that something finally happened. Professor Trelawney was rambling on about something, but I wasn't paying attention. For the rest of the school year she had decided to leave crystal balls on all the tables, something about giving us ample opportunities. So I decided to stare into the ball. I'd had a vision once before like that, so I figured it couldn't hurt to try again.

As the world around me faded away, the noises dimming and the surroundings blurring, I saw the mist begin to swirl like it did before. I concentrated this time on George, wondering if it would work as well with anyone, not just Harry. George emerged from the mist, walking down a corridor in his Hogwarts robe. One of the Slytherin students, I couldn't see his face, tripped George, causing him to spill his ink all over the front of his robe. The image faded and I returned to my seat in the classroom. Harry was asleep, as usual, and thankfully Professor Trelawney hadn't noticed anything unusual. I was pleased with myself for having looked into the future on my own, and hoped that soon I'd be able to do so without the aid of a crystal ball.

"What happened to you?" Ron asked when George walked up with ink all over his robe.

"Crabbe tripped me in the hall and made me spill my ink all over myself after we got out of class." He sat down with a huff and began eating dinner. I smiled, enjoying a private joke with myself.

"What are you smiling about?" Hermione asked me.

"Oh, well, while Professor Trelawney was lecturing us about something, I used the crystal ball and saw Crabbe tripping George."

"So you saw into the future again?"

"Yes, but this time I did it because I wanted to. I was concentrating on it. Professor Dumbledore's been encouraging me to try and learn to control my ability and see into the future at will, rather than whenever it hits me."

"That's great!"

"Yeah, except it cost me half a bottle of ink," George mumbled from across the table.

"I'm sorry you spilled your ink all over you," I told him.

"Don't worry about it. I'll get him back with some of our trick candies, right Fred?"

"Right, George."

After that, I began to tap into my seeing ability more often. It was still unpredictable, but I learned how to better focus myself. It started with focusing on my friends, one individual, and then if I was lucky I saw something in their immediate future. I once saw Hermione get a point off a paper, which devastated her, and I saw Harry lose the Golden Snitch to the other team's Seeker, but Gryffindor still won the game. After another month and a half, I was almost able to see into the future whenever I wanted. Dumbledore was pleased with my progress, not to mention my friends were thrilled. Ron kept trying to get me to see test questions for him, but I told him it didn't work like that. When there was only a month left in the school year, I had another dream.

_Crabbe and Goyle were chasing me. I pushed myself and lost them in a patch of trees, but Malfoy jumped out in front of me, causing me to stumble and fall. I tried to get away, but he grabbed me and transported us to a large house. He took me inside, where I heard voices. A blonde man, presumably Malfoy's father, stood inside and took me from Malfoy. He pushed me into another room, where we waited. A brief conversation took place, and Mr. Malfoy ended it by slapping me. A moment later something happened outside the room that drew him out of the room. I tried to leave the room, but something stopped me. Suddenly there was a great commotion and a green flash. I screamed._

I woke up panting. My sheets were covered in sweat. Hermione was looking at me with concern. Thankfully no one else seemed to have been disturbed by me. I told her my dream. She insisted I tell Dumbledore immediately, but as I felt this dream was not about my immediate future, I put it off till morning. When I met with the headmaster for our normal morning class, though, I began with telling him about my dream.

"And you say you feel this dream is not about your imminent future?" Dumbledore asked, for clarification. I nodded. "How can you be sure?"

"It seems that the shorter my visions are, the sooner they seem to happen. Maybe it has something to do with how far my mind has to travel to see the event," I suggested, trying to come up with some kind of explanation. Dumbledore bobbed his head, considering what I was saying.

"That is a possibility. When it comes to seeing the future, not everything makes sense. Sometimes the ability changes, or disappears altogether, for a person. And other times, one person may only be able to see the near future, while others the distant future. Some can control their ability, some learn control, and for others it simply happens at random. Your explanation for your ability may be correct. I would trust your instincts in thinking this dream concerns a more distant future, but I would be extra careful for the remainder of the year."

"You said some lose their ability. Do you think I'll lose my ability to see the future?"

"That is a question only time can answer. For some witches and wizards, seeing runs in the family. You've told me all you can about your family and ancestry, and I agree that there seems to be no history of magic in your family. And yet here you are, a muggle with the ability to see into the future. It started out with dreams, but has progressed quite a bit since you came to Hogwarts. You can now see at will, though you've said it is often only the near future, rarely more than a week in advance. So I cannot say what will happen with your ability in the future."

Our time ended, and throughout the day I began wondering if my ability would just up and disappear someday. Would I know immediately? Would I feel different? Or would I just realize the next time I tried to see into the future? If it left me, could it ever come back? And then I began wondering about my life in general. What would happen to me when school ended? Would I continue living with the Weasley's? Or would I live with Hermione? Would I ever be able to go home, to the United States? After everything that had happened, did I even want to? It's not like I had family to go back to, and all my friends thought I was dead. Even if I was ever able to return to a "normal" life, maybe I would see if I could remain in the wizarding world.


	13. A Dead Body

Two weeks before final exams, we got to go on one last trip to Hogsmeade. I was excited, because Harry promised to buy me some candy to take home with me, wherever "home" ended up being. Before we left the castle though, we took a picture together, the Weasley's, Harry, Hermione, and I, so I could have a picture with all my friends to take home as well. We had a lot of fun buying candy and being in the different shops. We decided to go to The Three Broomsticks, but Fred and George wanted to show me something in the joke shop again, so we agreed to meet up with the others in a minute. As we were walking back to the shop, Crabbe and Goyle stepped in front of us, blocking our way.

"Out of our way," Fred told them. I was hoping they'd listen, but of course knew better.

"No, we have some business with your friend there," Goyle said, pointing towards me. Fred and George simultaneously stepped in front of me.

"You'll have to go through us first," George told the duo.

Crabbe and Goyle smirked and charged the twins. They knocked them to the ground, and the each pair struggled to gain the upper hand over the other. George looked back at me briefly and yelled at me to run. Hoping they'd be alright, I did as I was told and took off running. I darted between two buildings, leaving the main street. Soon I heard footsteps coming after me fast, but when I looked behind me, I saw Crabbe and Goyle. I began running fasting, willing myself to outrun their long legs. Before long, I found myself running into the forest.

Recognizing events from my dream, I tried to turn around and head back to the town. Crabbe and Goyle didn't see me change course, so I managed to lose them. But moments later Malfoy stepped out from behind a tree and blocked my path. My attention was now fully on him, meaning I wasn't looking at the ground anymore, so I tripped over a tree root. I quickly stood up and tried to run away, but he grabbed my arm. Then I felt strange sensations and realized we were disapparating somewhere. I panicked, knowing where we were going because of my dream. We appeared in front of a large house and Malfoy quickly dragged me inside.

"I got her," Malfoy called out upon entering the door.

"Good work," a man said, stepping out from a door down the hall to the right. He had blonde hair and an angular face. The resemblance to Malfoy was obvious, so I assumed this was his father. "Bring her in here and then wait in the living room for the Dark Lord." Malfoy gave me a final shove towards his father, who took me into the room he'd come from and shut the door.

The room was a small library. Every wall was lined with bookshelves, all floor to ceiling, and all full to the brim with books. Some looked new, while others looked so old they would fall apart if they were even touched. There was a window on the back wall, the only break in the bookshelves. The window looked out on the front yard. Beneath this window was the only chair in the room. Mr. Malfoy guided me to the chair and gave me a push to sit down in it, though gentler than his son had handled me.

"As you heard, the Dark Lord will be arriving shortly," he told me, slowly pacing in front of me, his eyes drifting between me and the books in front of him. "He will no doubt want you to prove your ability to him, so I thought it would be best if you gave me a small demonstration first. This way I will be able to prepare to tell him if you cannot see into the future after all." He stopped pacing and gave me a pointed look. "Well, tell me something about the future. Perhaps you can tell me how the Dark Lord will dispose of your friends, especially Harry Potter."

I didn't want to look into the future for this man, nor for the Dark Lord. They had no way of knowing if I was actually looking into the future or if I lied about what I saw. So I closed my eyes, trying to act like I was seeing the future while I thought up something he would believe about the future. But instead my mind's eye began showing me a distinct picture, one obviously from the future. Harry was dueling with Voldemort. Each would send a curse at the other, and then another curse would return. Each time a curse was used, a protective spell was used to deflect the spell. Harry tried using a spell with a green flash several times, but each time Voldemort was able to deflect the spell. Then, they began talking, each trying to taunt the other into making a mistake. Voldemort appeared to take offense to something Harry said, and sent off a stream of curses. Finally, he looked at Harry, clearly hoping to see a dead body. But instead, the green flash spell sprung from Harry's wand, hitting a surprised Voldemort directly in the chest. He fell to the ground, dead. After that, I returned to the library in the Malfoy's house. I opened my eyes to find Mr. Malfoy staring at me.

"What did you see?" I wondered if I should tell him the truth. Telling him I saw his master being defeated by Harry Potter might unnerve him.

"I saw my friend, Harry Potter, defeat Voldemort," I told him simply.

His eye twitched, but he said nothing. Slowly he walked towards me and then surprised me by backhanding me across the face. I had known it was coming, but it still stung. My hand immediately went to my cheek.

"I want the truth girl," he said, obviously not wanting to believe me. I just smiled at him, telling him I wasn't lying. He stepped towards me, looking like he was going to slap me again, but then a loud noise came from the hallway outside. "Now what," he muttered under his breath. He opened the door, took one look outside, and then left the room with wand in hand.

I got up out of the chair, hoping to escape from the house. I looked outside before leaving the room, and I stopped. The Weasley's, Harry, and Hermione all stood in the living room, shooting curses from their wands and the Malfoy's and Professor Snape, who was also in the living room. George looked over and saw me, immediately informing the others. He ran over while the rest continued holding off the others.

"How did you find me?" I asked.

"Hermione remembered your dream and figured out you'd been taken to the Malfoy's house, and Fred and I came here once with our father. Now come on, we need to leave before Voldemort shows up!"

I followed him back to the group, giving everyone a smile to show that I was okay. They began backing up towards the door, still facing the Malfoy's and Professor Snape. Suddenly, Dumbledore walked through the front door behind us, and Voldemort appeared in the living room behind Mr. Malfoy.

"Disapparate to Hogwarts," Dumbledore whispered to us all. Dumbledore took me with him, but before we disappeared, a green flash shot straight towards us. I screamed, and then the world disappeared.

We appeared in Dumbledore's office in Hogwarts. Without saying a word, he motioned for me to look out the window. I saw all my friends outside on the grass, looking worried and panicked. Blocking me from view, he got their attention and motioned for them to come up to his office.

"Amanda, we don't have much time. Voldemort will not be able to follow us here to Hogwarts. I only allowed our small group past the magical boundaries. But he will never stop searching for you, and I think you understand that. So I have thought up a plan. Before we disapparated, you saw the killing curse he sent after us. While thankfully it didn't hit any of us, I would like to let everyone believe it hit you. If your friends think you are dead, he will have no choice but to believe that and forget all about you. Are you willing to do this?" I nodded, knowing there was no other way to escape Voldemort so thoroughly, otherwise Dumbledore would have thought of it. He told he was would cast a spell on me that would make me appear dead, though I would still be able to hear everything happening around me.

"Oh, Professor, before we do this, someone should know. I saw a vision while I was in the Malfoy's house. I saw Harry defeat Voldemort." I saw him smile. Then I nodded at him and he cast the spell. I collapsed on the ground, and a few seconds later I heard my friends enter the room. For a moment no one spoke, so I knew they were looking at me.

"What happened?" Harry asked, his voice choking with emotion.

"I'm afraid that when Voldemort attempted to use the killing curse on me, he hit Amanda instead."

I heard Ginny and Hermione crying, and I thought I heard some sniffles from the boys. Dumbledore gave them some comforting words, but soon he told them they should go back to their rooms. He would announce my death to the school at supper in a few hours. Once they had left the room, Dumbledore removed the spell and I stood up.

"Why didn't you tell Harry about my vision?" I asked immediately. "You could have told him I had it yesterday in our morning session or something."

"Amanda, I understand your wanting Harry to know he will defeat Voldemort, but now is not the time to discuss that. Harry, like the rest of your friends, is grieving your death. He needs time to do that. For right now, I feel it is best that I hold onto that information rather than burden him with it." I nodded, understanding his reasons.

"So what happens to me now? I don't have a home to go back to, not that I could anyways. Will you keep me hidden here in Hogwarts?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "You will be staying with a magical family on the outskirts of a city in Scotland. I wanted to get you out of England, but of course you only speak English. I couldn't send you back to the United States because of your death, but no one in Scotland is even aware of the death of one, unknown American family. So you will be safe there. I have already spoken with them, having been toying with the idea for some time now. Voldemort provided the perfect circumstances to fake your death." A half smile appeared on his face, showing he was amused at the irony of the situation, but then it faded and he returned to more serious matters. "You cannot bring your things with you, as I'm sure your friends will notice if something important is missing. Don't worry though, you will have everything you need. You will be leaving tonight, before anyone has a chance to see you. Then I will create a double of you, because I'm sure Mrs. Weasley will insist on a proper burial for you." I smiled, remembering the forceful, yet kind woman.

"Professor, are you sure this will work?" Everything had happened so fast, and I was starting to have my doubts.

"I cannot be certain, but I believe this will work. Draco Malfoy will report to his father when he returns to the school if you are here or not. Your friends' grief is genuine, on their part, and he will recognize that. I wish there was a way for you to be able to remain in contact with your friends, but if I am the only one who has to fake grief over your death, the chances of Voldemort believing you're dead are much higher. Perhaps, if Harry does defeat Voldemort like you saw in your vision, you can be reunited with your friends after that, because the danger to you will be over."

I nodded, recognizing the truth of his words. Dumbledore waited until late that night, after everyone had gone to bed, before taking me to my new family. They were very nice. They were a family of four, two parents, a daughter my age, and an older brother. The ages reminded me of my own family, which brought more tears, but also a sense of familiarity that eased the transition. I said goodbye to Dumbledore, listening when he said he would be keeping an eye on me in one way or another. And then he was gone. I went to bed right away and feel asleep quickly, but not before hoping Harry would defeat Voldemort soon so I could return to them and tell them I wasn't dead after all.

The End


End file.
